A.N.: This is a very brief story. This is what would have happened to
David if my sister Sarah was an Animorph. This fic takes place not long
after Rachel's last dealings with Crayak, the Drode, and David.
Rachel had let David live. Despite all that had past between them, she just couldn't kill him. It made her sick just thinking about it. It had been three days since he'd begged her to end his miserable existence. And she's had no peace.
My name is Sarah. I joined the team a little over two months ago. I'm an exchange student from England, staying with Rachel's family. She and the others never meant to involve me, but now I'm a part of the team. We were in a barn at her best friend's farm-Cassie's farm. Suddenly there was this big, bladed monster. Before I know it, I'm an Animorph. Oh fine, there were a few steps in between now and then...me fainting, for example. Um, but I don't really care to go into that again. Ask one of the others.
Anyway, now I'm the seventh Animorph. Correction, I'm the seventh SUCCESSFUL Animorph. That David guy I just mentioned? He was one of us once. According to the others, he betrayed them. He almost killed them. They turned him into a rat, and left him on an island. I didn't even know about that until last night. Rachel, whose room I share, hadn't been able to sleep or eat for the last two days. Last night, she broke down and actually cried. And Rachel does not cry. So finally she told me.
She told me everything. Even what she hadn't told Cassie.
"I'm just so sick of this. I wish none of it had ever happened. I wish I'd never heard the name "David". She muttered as her brief tears retreated once more.
"But the Blue Box-the, um...What did Ax call it? The Escafil Device. Visser Three would've gotten it," I countered.
Rachel hit her pillow in frustration. "I know!" she yelled. "I just mean... ARGH!"
"I get you. Darned if you do, darned if you don't."
She nodded and gave the pillow another smack.
Since then I'd been thinking long and hard. Now me, I'm an optimist by nature. I believe that there has to be a way to heal. Even nature reflects this. If you don't heal, you die. Heal, and the species lives on. Especially in times like this. Healing is not strictly physical. The healing of your mind and soul is your choice.
"Still," I said to myself this morning, "sometimes it must be helped along."
And like a bright new star, I had an idea. It was still early morning. I quietly got out of bed and stripped of my nightshirt revealing my morphing suit. I looked over at Rachel, asleep in the other bed. Finally, she drifted off, I thought. She probably cried herself to sleep, though she'd never admit it if she did.
I opened the window and slowly began to change. Morphing is simply bizarre, really, there's no other word for it. Your body rarely changes the same way twice. This time my feet went first, becoming huge and scaly, and my toes split to form three long ones, while my heel extended backwards to form an opposable toe, and each ended with a cruel, curved talon. Then my eyes grew larger, and were surrounded by huge facial disks that took up the front half of my head. My head shrunk and my lips hardened to a sharp little beak. My knees reversed directions with a stomach-rolling crunch and my bones grew lighter. The transformation ended with my arms lengthening and feathers blanketing my body.
A few seconds later, a Barn owl flew out of Rachel's window.
Rachel had let David live. Despite all that had past between them, she just couldn't kill him. It made her sick just thinking about it. It had been three days since he'd begged her to end his miserable existence. And she's had no peace.
My name is Sarah. I joined the team a little over two months ago. I'm an exchange student from England, staying with Rachel's family. She and the others never meant to involve me, but now I'm a part of the team. We were in a barn at her best friend's farm-Cassie's farm. Suddenly there was this big, bladed monster. Before I know it, I'm an Animorph. Oh fine, there were a few steps in between now and then...me fainting, for example. Um, but I don't really care to go into that again. Ask one of the others.
Anyway, now I'm the seventh Animorph. Correction, I'm the seventh SUCCESSFUL Animorph. That David guy I just mentioned? He was one of us once. According to the others, he betrayed them. He almost killed them. They turned him into a rat, and left him on an island. I didn't even know about that until last night. Rachel, whose room I share, hadn't been able to sleep or eat for the last two days. Last night, she broke down and actually cried. And Rachel does not cry. So finally she told me.
She told me everything. Even what she hadn't told Cassie.
"I'm just so sick of this. I wish none of it had ever happened. I wish I'd never heard the name "David". She muttered as her brief tears retreated once more.
"But the Blue Box-the, um...What did Ax call it? The Escafil Device. Visser Three would've gotten it," I countered.
Rachel hit her pillow in frustration. "I know!" she yelled. "I just mean... ARGH!"
"I get you. Darned if you do, darned if you don't."
She nodded and gave the pillow another smack.
Since then I'd been thinking long and hard. Now me, I'm an optimist by nature. I believe that there has to be a way to heal. Even nature reflects this. If you don't heal, you die. Heal, and the species lives on. Especially in times like this. Healing is not strictly physical. The healing of your mind and soul is your choice.
"Still," I said to myself this morning, "sometimes it must be helped along."
And like a bright new star, I had an idea. It was still early morning. I quietly got out of bed and stripped of my nightshirt revealing my morphing suit. I looked over at Rachel, asleep in the other bed. Finally, she drifted off, I thought. She probably cried herself to sleep, though she'd never admit it if she did.
I opened the window and slowly began to change. Morphing is simply bizarre, really, there's no other word for it. Your body rarely changes the same way twice. This time my feet went first, becoming huge and scaly, and my toes split to form three long ones, while my heel extended backwards to form an opposable toe, and each ended with a cruel, curved talon. Then my eyes grew larger, and were surrounded by huge facial disks that took up the front half of my head. My head shrunk and my lips hardened to a sharp little beak. My knees reversed directions with a stomach-rolling crunch and my bones grew lighter. The transformation ended with my arms lengthening and feathers blanketing my body.
A few seconds later, a Barn owl flew out of Rachel's window.